Convoy “Rubber Duck” Mack Truck

For the release of the 1978 movie
Convoy,
ERTL
of Dyersville, Iowa produced a 1/25 scale model of the “big black Mack” driven by the Rubber Duck. But the model isn’t as accurate as it should be; Chris Doyle, who provided these pictures of the model’s box and instructions, explains:

As a little background, I got my first copy of this kit in about 1980. I was a young inexperienced modeler, but I had to have it. It was a good kit, but I noticed something was seriously wrong. The kit is based on a U-series Mack, not the R-series. The U’s are easy to distinguish because of the offset cab, which is usually used in dump trucks and cement mixers. It wasn’t until about 1990 that I found a kit of the R-series. I have since found the Duck kit again in a modeler’s catalog at the small fee of $75. Oh, well, it’s only money. I’ve got a pretty faithful representation of the truck in the movie, including a lengthened sleeper. The extra pieces — bull bar, air deflector, Duck hood ornament — are all excellent and the decals in the kit even included the signage for the trailer.